Rental car ex Tromso, Norway

[Peter78]

We are off to Norway in September, and with flights booked into and out of Tromso, we will need a rental car for eight days. I was aware that Norway is an expensive destination, however I have trouble finding a rental car for less than 3,000 NOK or approx. $535 at today's exchange rate. This is for a car in Europcar's compact category, with a VW Polo as an example. The price for higher car categories jumps considerably, however having a larger car would probably not be a bad idea.

So right now, we have a reservation priced at about $66 per day for a rather small car and I am undecided whether this is a good deal or not. If anyone has input in this regard, I would greatly appreciate feedback or ideas - also in relation to itineraries and hotel recommendations, although this is probably the wrong forum for this. We hope to see the Northern lights (still very early in the year but we might be lucky) and we love anything outdoor-based, even if "only" taking in beautiful vistas, which the Norwegian coast hopefully has lots of...

Thanks in advance to everyone!

 

[JohnM]

I was in Norway about eight years ago and it's certainly expensive but $66/day for a VW Polo doesn't shock me.

Allow more time than you may think to get between places - the roads are very windy and you need to make ferry crossings of fjords fairly often.

Pretty much everything in Norway is outdoors-based.

I don't know how far afield of Tromso you intend travelling but the Lofoten islands are quite interesting, if somewhat drying fish-smelly.

 

[oobi doobi]

I booked a car from Trondheim Norway for 7 days in May this year. Booked through Economy car rentals and ended up at Europcars. Ordered a VW Golf and ended up with a diesel Audi, 5 door. Cost was $607 or $86 per day. Was an excellent car and drove over to ARE Sweden and Ostersund.

 

[jukebox333]

Check the UK based websites - you will often find that for the same rental company, the price for the .co.uk site is less than elsewhere.

 

[Paul_PER]

We have an office in Tromso. I'll send them an email. My boss frequently visits - it's his original home town. I know he has occasionally hired a car for longer trips otherwise I think he keeps an old banger there to get around locally.

 

[risky]

Driving in Norway once the snow comes is interesting, but I guess that won't be such a problem for you in September. I spent some time in Norway in mid-November, and there was plenty of snow then. For an Aussie who rarely sees snow and hardly ever drives in it, it was quite a challenge.

When we were there (7-8 yrs ago), all cars had to change to snow/winter tyres on Nov 1. We drove around from Denmark with a Danish car and regular tyres...I ended up buying the special tyre "bags" (work like snow chains, but are much easier/quicker to put on and off and work surprisingly well). The maximum limit for the whole of Norway is 80km/h - in the snow with bags on, I was lucky to get to 40km/h.

We only went a bit further north than Lillehammer, and came back down to Bergen and took the ferry from there.

 

[wunala]

Hi
I was in Tromsø last October, and it wasn't just the car hire that was expensive!!!. We got one from Avis, and it was about NOK1700 (~AUD285) for 2 days. But on the upside the Aurora came out to play every night.
There are supermarkets etc, but even the basics you laugh at. its all the joy of overseas travel. but do go to the Mack brewery for the beer and the bear.
PM me if you want any details of tours, photos to pass off as your own etc.'
Cheers

 

[Peter78]

Thank you for everyone's input so far, very helpful. I somehow expected that A$66 per day for a rental car is not bad, however I was still hoping for some "secret" hint that might see an improvement in car category.

We plan on leaving Tromso soon after arrival and a very helpful chap at Tromso's tourist information, who is coincidentally Kiwi, recommended we take the car to Senja first, before proceeding to Vesteralen and then on to the Lofoten. Apparently, Kyle recommended a part of the Whale Route, with some parts (such as Kvaloya) representing a detour due to ferries not operating at this time of year, hence we won't go there.

We have a week for exploring and any hints or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I should also write a trip report, it would be my first but I will take notes and possibly put something together upon my return!

 

[Paul_PER]

We have an office in Tromso. I'll send them an email. My boss frequently visits - it's his original home town. I know he has occasionally hired a car for longer trips otherwise I think he keeps an old banger there to get around locally.

My boss hasn't hired a car in Tromso. Only Stavanger (way down south).

Tromso office came back with the bog standard options of Hertz, Avis, & Europcar plus one other company I've never heard of - Sixt - so you might want to google them.

I've never been to Tromso - furthest north I've been is Hammerfest and that was to see the midnight sun during summer.

If you are stopping in Oslo the Munch 150 celebrations are on if you into art....